Shedd Team To Release 2nd Whale In Canada

August 18, 1992|By Jerry Crimmins.

Another one of the six beluga whales captured in Canada as candidates to be placed in the Shedd Aquarium`s 170,000-square-foot Oceanarium will be returned to the wild because it may be ill, Shedd officials said Monday.

This was the second beluga whale captured during the Shedd`s expedition to Hudson Bay that showed signs of illness. The first possibly ill whale was released at 10 a.m. Sunday, said Shedd spokeswoman Betsy Raymond.

Raymond said it was not in the best interests of either animal to travel.

``Though we found some results to indicate that the animals were not particularly suited to transport at this time, the complete diagnostic profile did not suggest any cause for concern about the health of the beluga population in the Churchill River,`` said Dr. David St. Aubin, marine mammalogist.

The Shedd team is working in the waters of western Hudson Bay and the Churchill River near Churchill, Manitoba.

The Shedd team still has four beluga whales, two males and two females, which they hope to bring to the Oceanarium to join two female belugas.

The most recently caught whale, a female, 8 feet 8 inches long, was collected at 11:30 a.m. Monday and appears to be in good health, Raymond said. Shedd officials said the second rejected whale will not be released until another blood sample is taken as part of an ongoing program of monitoring the health of belugas in the Churchill River.

The Shedd has Canadian and American permission to collect four belugas, two males and two females.